Raptors-Magic Preview

By NOEY KUPCHANPosted Dec 29 2012 1:30AM

The Orlando Magic had won a season-best four straight before running into the Toronto Raptors just over a week ago.

Not much has gone their way since.

The Magic try to avoid matching their longest losing streak of the season Saturday night against the visiting Raptors, who look to keep rolling with a third consecutive victory in the season series.

Frustrations are surely starting to take their toll on the Magic (12-17) after being handed another tough loss Friday, 105-97 at NBA-worst Washington. Arron Afflalo scored 26 while J.J. Redick added 23 for Orlando, which was outscored 23-7 in transition and dropped to 0-4 since losing Glen Davis to a sprained left shoulder.

"We have to mix and match some lineups again and see if we can create some energy," said coach Jacque Vaughn, whose team lost five straight Nov. 6-13. "We gotta create a way to stop the opponent's ball from going in - so that's the next phase."

Orlando's loss snapped a league-best 12-game stretch of holding opponents to 100 points or fewer. The Wizards, meanwhile, reached triple digits for the first time in 12 games.

"There isn't an excuse for being bad defensively, and we are bad defensively right now, and it's surprising because we've been good defensively all season," Redick told the league's official website.

"Every team in the NBA is capable of scoring if you don't play D."

Orlando has been outscored by an average of just 4.5 points during its skid, which began with last Friday's 93-90 road loss to the Raptors (10-20).

The Magic, who also fell 97-86 at Toronto on Nov. 18, could have their hands full again if the Raptors' recent efforts are any indication.

Toronto entered Friday having lost 15 of 17 on the road before escaping with a 104-97 overtime win at New Orleans - its sixth victory in seven games overall.

DeMar DeRozan led the way with 30 points for the Raptors, who took care of business in OT after letting a 13-point lead with just over five minutes left in regulation slip away.

"We knew right from the jump ball, ain't gonna be no second overtime," said Alan Anderson, averaging 16.0 points over the last six games. "We played that five minutes and just blitzed them."

Kyle Lowry also came up big in his first action since missing seven games due to a partial tear of his triceps, posting 17 points to go along with a team-high eight assists off the bench. Lowry, who's appeared in just 17 games this season due to injury, could give the Raptors a huge boost if he can stay on the court.

"I did a lot of conditioning to be prepared to come back and play - I just wanna help the team," said Lowry, averaging a career-best 15.9 points. "The last couple of weeks, the ball has been moving really well. I just wanted to come out and keep that going and not try to do too much."

In addition to Davis' absence, Orlando could be without backup point guard E'Twaun Moore after he suffered a sprained left elbow Friday. Veteran forward Hedo Turkoglu, though, is hoping to suit up for the first time since breaking his left hand in the season opener.

Copyright 2012 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited

DeRozan leads Raptors to win over Magic

Posted Dec 29 2012 11:35PM

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) The Toronto Raptors know a lot about patching together a team beset by injuries. They gave the Orlando Magic a lesson Saturday night.

The Raptors have not had their starting five together since the fourth game of the season yet they routed the injury-ravaged Magic 123-88 with tight team play.

DeMar DeRozan scored 21 points, Ed Davis had 18 and Jose Calderon added 15 points and 10 assists as the Raptors had six players in double figures against the Magic's makeshift lineup.

"We don't have any Kobes or LeBrons who just go out and win games for us, we've got to do it as a team," Calderon said. "When we do that, we're pretty good."

"We've had a lot of bad luck early in the season with injuries and close games so it's desperation time every time we step on the court," DeRozan said. "When we make the game fun, everybody's confidence gets high and it feels like we can't be stopped."

There is a sense of desperation creeping into the Magic, who lost their fifth straight since Glen Davis went out with a shoulder injury. Starting point guard Jameer Nelson (hip) and his backup, E'Twaun Moore, joined Davis on the sideline, forcing Orlando to piece together a starting lineup and playing rotation.

It didn't work well. Magic coach Jacque Vaughn gave playing time to all 11 healthy players in the first half when Toronto shot out to a 67-47 lead, but none of the combinations were effective.

Rookie Andrew Nicholson, starting for the second time this year, led Orlando with 22 points. Arron Afflalo had 14 points and Ish Smith, who started in place of Nelson, had 13 points and six assists.

"We were under-manned in the sense that guys had to play different roles in different minutes," Vaughn said. "Toronto made some shots early, which put us on our heels. We were trying to figure out whether it was change in personnel, change in coverage and they just had the ability to make shots. It was one of those nights."

Toronto coach Dwane Casey, who has put together 10 different starting lineups because of injuries this season, had some empathy for the Magic's situation but was more interested in how well his team executed.

Toronto had 33 assists and only eight turnovers while shooting 56.1 percent from the field. The resurgent Raptors have won seven of their last eight games.

"We weren't trying to run up the score, but our guys were making shots," Casey said. "We had 33 assists which meant we were moving the basketball around. We were playing the game the right way."

Toronto had its best offensive half of the season in the first two quarters, shooting a season-high 58.1 percent and scoring a season-best 67 points. The Raptors hit nine of their first 10 shots from beyond the 3-point line and 10 of 14 for the half.

Mickael Pietrus started the run with three 3-pointers in the first seven minutes, the last one tying the game at 19. Toronto finished the quarter on a 17-2 run, making its last seven shots, six layups and one 3-pointer.

The Raptors hit six more 3-pointers in the second, five of them by reserves Terrence Ross, Alan Anderson and Kyle Lowry. Calderon made the last of the 3s, stretching their lead to 67-47 when Calderon nailed one from behind the arc just before halftime.

The Magic did slow the Raptors down long enough in the third period to make it interesting for a short time. Nicholson outplayed fellow rookie Ed Davis for 14 points in the quarter. His two free throws with 5:16 left cut the Magic's deficit to 76-65, but that was as close as Orlando would get.

Alan Anderson stopped the Magic's rally with a layup and the Raptors closed out the quarter on an 11-6 run to take an 87-71 lead into the final period.

The Raptors scored at will in the fourth period, even when they emptied the bench. John Lucas and Quincy Acy played the last three minutes of the game, with Lucas hitting a 3-pointer and Acy a dunk.

NOTES: Toronto had only eight turnovers, the fourth time in the last five games the Raptors have been in single-digits in turnovers. ... The Raptors reserves outscored the Magic bench 60-31. ... Hedo Turkoglu, playing for the first time since injuring his hand in the season opener, scored eight points and had five rebounds for Orlando.

Copyright 2012 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited

Notebook: Raptors 123, Magic 88

THE FACTS: Mickael Pietrus, Jose Calderon, Alan Anderson and Terrence Ross made 3-point shots during an early 30-7 run and the Toronto Raptors went on to a 123-88 rout of the Orlando Magic.

The Raptors (11-20) made nine of their first 10 3-point shots in building a 21-point lead in the first half.

DeMar DeRozan led six Raptors in double figures with 21 points.

Rookie Andrew Nicholson scored a game-high 22 points in his second start for the Magic, who never got the lead under 11 in the second half.

Their fifth straight loss dropped the Magic to 12-18.

The Raptors have won seven of their last eight games, including two victories against the Magic.

QUOTABLE: "Everybody on this team is hungry. We had a lot of bad luck early in the season with injuries and close games that we should have won. It's desperation time so every time we step out onto the court, we're going to play like it's our last game." -- DeRozan.

QUOTABLE II: "We were in a 4 1/2-foot hole; now we're in a 3 1/2-foot hole trying to crawl our way out."-- Raptors coach Dwane Casey.

THE STAT: The Raptors shot 15-for-27 (56 percent) from behind the 3-point line. It was only the sixth time they have made as many as 15 3-pointers in a game without going into overtime, the most recent coming on Jan. 23, 2008 against Boston. They won all six games.

TURNING POINT: The Magic led, 19-16, when Pietrus made a 3-pointer with 4:21 left in the first quarter, launching the 30-7 Toronto spurt over the next seven minutes.

HOT: Every Toronto player who took a minimum of three shots made at least half of them, and the Raptors shot 56 percent overall.

QUOTABLE III: "It's about sharing the ball and finding the wide-open guy. We know if we make that extra pass, then the next play will result in that guy making the extra pass. It's about trust. We have to get the selfishness out of our team."-- Jose Calderon, who had 10 of Toronto's 33 assists.

NOT: J.J. Redick shot 2-for-12 and missed several long jumpers while the Magic were still in the game.

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: DeRozan, who went into the game tied for 20th in the NBA in scoring, is averaging 24.8 points in his last five games.

HARD TIMES: Four days ago, the Magic looked ahead to consecutive games against teams (Hornets, Wizards, Raptors) with a combined record of 17-63. They lost all three.

ROOKIE WATCH: Nicholson, a late insertion into the starting lineup, had the highest scoring output of his 29-game career. Fellow-Magic rookie Maurice Harkless was shut out for the fourth time in his 20 starts.

NOTABLE: In the absence of Jameer Nelson (hip) and Glen Davis (shoulder), the Magic used their 11th different starting lineup . . . Hedo Turkoglu played for the first time since opening day for the Magic. He scored eight points in 23 minutes . . . Eleven of the 13 Raptors who played had at least one assist . . . In their 24 seasons, the Magic have lost only three home games by 35 points or more. Two of those losses have come this season.